Process of producing anthraquinone



C. R. DOWNS.

PROCESS OF PRODUC ING ANTHRAQUINONE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3. 1920',

1,374,721. v m Patented Ap 12,1921. 7

INVENTOR ATTORNEY into contact with a catalyst in which or in.

.To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES' PA-TENT OFFICE." 1

camnas It." DOWNS, or c mrsrnu, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'ro rHu'BA'imE'r'r comranx, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY;

raocEss. or rnonueiue ancrnaaouinon'n.

Specification of Letters'latent. Patented Apr. 12, 1921 Original application filed Julie 11, 1919, Serial No. 303,337. Divided and-thisapplication filed July 3, I

Be it'known that I, CHARLES R. Downs, a citizen of the United States, residin at Cliffside, in the county of Bergen and tate of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Producing Anthraquinone, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is fora process of'produc ing anthraquinone for anthracene. By this invention use is made of the principle that vaporizable liquids will absorb latent heat in changing from the liquid to the vapor state without change in temperature,

the heat being carried awayby the vapors from which it' may be extracted, thereby.

condensing the vapors which may be re-. This is turned for absorbing more heat. a division of my application Serial ,No. 303,337 filed June 11,1919. I

The invention will be described andillustrated in connection with apparatus in which a gaseous reaction mixture is brought proximity to which there are containers for a vaporizable liquid or liquids, said containers being provided with means for leading 01f vapors to a cooling space and returning the condensed liquid. There may be-one or more containers for the liquid and they should be so shaped and disposed that heat will be readily transmitted from the catalyst to the vaporizable liquid. It is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to the particular apparatus shown, nor to the materials mentioned;

In the draWings- Figure 1 is a section through a form of I apparatus for carrying out the process, and

Fig. 2 is a section through 'a' modified form of the apparatus.

In Fig. 1- the reference character '1 refers to a containerv which is provided with a a perforated plate 2 upon which alayer of catalyst 3 or carrier such as pumice or asbestos for said catalyst is laced. Electrical heating means are shown at 4 and a series of pipes 5 with closed ends extend into the catalyst 3 or the carrier for the same. The upper ends of. the pipes 5 terminate in a header 6 which may beconnected to a pump 7 which may be used either to create a vacuum or pressure in the pipe or one.

1920. Serial 170. 393,905.

to introduce a gas, preferably neutral, into the header from a source, not shown. A.

valve V in thepipe P may be closed, if desired, after the pump 7 has been operated to obtain the desired condition in the systhe tubes 5 and" run back into the lower ends. A-deflector 8 is shown in the lower part of the container 1 which has an inlet 9 and the container 1 is surrounded by a casingor housing l0having a partition 11 and an outlet 12. 1

In the modification shdwn in Fig. 2, the

container 1 is provided with an outlet 12, and a pipe 13 leads to the inlet 9 from the tion' of the. tubes 5 The other parts I jacket 14 which surrounds the upper porshown in Fig. 2 are similar to the .corre- I .sponding parts described in connection with Fig. -1.

The operation according to Fig.1 is as follows: The reaction mixture is introduced through inlet 9into container 1 where it comes into contact with the catalyst 3. If

necessary, the heater 4: may first bring the temperature up to that required to initiate the catalytic reaction which is an exothermic The catalyst'fl3 becomes heated and the heat is conducted through'the walls of a the tubes 5 to the liquid therein which is caused to boil and the vapors rise in the.

tubes 5, the upper ends ofwh'ich are cooled -in any convenient Way so that the vapors.

become condensed and trickle back into the lower end of the tubes 5. The liquid in the tubes is not heated above its boiling point because an increase in the heat transmitted to the same merely causes an ,increase in so as to come into contact with the catalyst 3 The products of reaction pass out through the outlet 12.

A specific application of this invention is in the oxidation of anthracene to anthraquinone in the presence of vanadium oxid as a catalyzer. It has been found that the proper temperature at which this reaction should be carried out is about 375 C. because very much higher temperatures cause .the oxidation to progress too far, and the ture gradient or head between the catalyst 3 and the liquid in tubes 5 when this liquid is mercury so that the exothermic heat is transmitted from the catalyst to the mercury with sufficient rapidity to keep the temperature of the catalyst at about the proper point, or near 375 C. The tempera ture will be automatically regulated to a certain extent, for when more heat is evolved the mercury will boil more rapidly and thereby remove heat more rapidly. The cooling surfaces of the pipes 5 will be made large enough to assure condensing of all the vapors, and the pressure maintained in the pipes will be such as to keep the boiling point of the liquid mercury so that it will hold the catalyst at the proper temperature. When mercury or other oxidizable liquid is used as the heat removing agency it may be advisable to introduce into the tubes 5 a neutral gas, such as nitrogen, to prevent oxidation of the liquid.

It is obvious that the principle of this invention may be applied in different ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and the temperature may be controlled in many other chemical reactions by using other liquids of different boiling points or the boiling points of the liquids used can be controlled within somewhat wide limits by changing the pressure inside the tubes 5. Two or more streams of liqulds or gases, ora mixture of the same with solid materials, which react exothermically when brought into contact may have their temperatures controlled during the reaction as herein described. Further examples of chemical reaction to which this invention is applicable are the oxidation of naphthalene to phthalic anhydrid, toluene to benzoic acid and benzaldehyde, benzene to maleic acid, ethyl alcohol to acetaldehyde, and the chlorination of hydrocarbons, etc. Other applications of this invention not necessary to describe will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In the manufacture of anthraquinone by the partial oxidation of anthracene by an oxygen containing gas in the presence of a suitable catalyzer, the step which comprises providing liquid mercury out of contact with the reaction mixture but in heat transferring relationship thereto.

2. In the manufacture of anthraquinone by the partial oxidation of anthracene by an oxygen containing gas in the presence of a suitable catalyst, the steps which comprise supplying liquid mercury to thezone of re action out of contact with the reaction mixture but inheat transferring relationship to said catalyst so that heat will be absorbed by said mercury as latent heat of vaporization and maintaining the supply of liquid mercury in the reaction zone by introducing liquid mercury before all of the original mercury has been vaporized.

3. In the art of gas phase oxidation of anthracene in the presence of a catalyst to form anthraquinone the improvement which comprises maintaining a substantiall constant and uniform temperature by t e vaporization of a liquid distributed within the zone of reaction out of direct contact with the catalyst but in heattransferring relationship thereto.

4. In the art of gas phase oxidation of anthracene in the presence of a catalyst to form anthraquinone the improvement which comprises maintaining a substantial] constant and uniform temperature by t e vaporization of mercury distributed within the zone of reaction out of direct contact with the catalyst. but in heat transferring relationship thereto.

In testimony whereof I afiix in Si CHARLES R. 0

' ature. S. 

